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Sherry’s Restaurant, New York Canadian by birth, the thrifty and ambitious Louis Sherry originally opened an ice cream and candy store before giving Delmonico’s a run for their money by opening a salubrious restaurant in 1890 that became one of the most famous culinary landmarks in New York until the advent of prohibition. Louis Sherry […]

Murray’s Night Club Murray’s Night Club in Beak Street, London was opened in late 1913 by Jack Mays, an American and Ernest A. Cordell, an Englishman. It was part of the cabaret boom inspired by the tango craze that had been sweeping Europe and the USA and emerged at the same time as other venues […]

Cafe des Ambassadeurs The Café des Ambassadeurs was one of most fashionable and best-known summer venues in Paris situated on the Avenue Gabriel at the entrance to the Champs-Elysées near the Place de la Concorde. Named after the nearby Hotel Crillon that had become the residence of foreign ambassadors, it was founded in 1764 as […]

The Lido des Champs Elysees Clearly inspired by the growing status of the Lido in Venice as a fashionable haunt of high society,the Lido on the Champs Elysees, Paris, opened its doors on 18th February 1928 and was a novelty being a unique combination of a swimming pool, cabaret and restaurant and was described as […]

Cafe de Paris, London The Cafe de Paris was one of the most fashionable dining haunts in London in 1920s. Intimate and elegant it was described by Vogue magazine as ‘delightfully comfortable’ and by Dancing Times as ‘the smartest dance restaurant in London…’

Excelsior Hotel, Lido The Hotel Excelsior has always been the focal point of social life on the Venice Lido and is one of the most luxurious and famous hotels in the world. It was made famous during the mid 1920s when it became one of the most fashionable spots in Europe with its very own […]

The Kit Cat Club The fashionable Kit Cat Club in the Haymarket, which to many people today still epitomises the gay carefree days of the 1920s, was opened in the summer of 1925 and immediately became one of the most famous nocturnal haunts in London. Decked out with the last word in restaurant and dance […]

The Frolics in Paris An interesting venue that glittered brilliantly for a few years in the early 1920s and then promptly disappeared was regarded at the time as the rendezvous of smart international society in Paris.

Hotel Cecil, London The Hotel Cecil was one of the largest and grandest hotels in the world when it opened in 1886 situated between the Embankment and the Strand and not far from the Savoy Hotel. It was one of the most popular places to visit in London with excellent cuisine, perfect ambiance, luxurious surroundings […]

The London Casino The Prince Edward Theatre on Old Compton Street, named after Edward Prince of Wales, opened on the 3rd April 1930 on the site of a drapers business called The Emporium. The area was soon to be known as London’s Quarter Latin now simply Soho. The exterior was in the style of an […]

The French Casino In December 1934, the refurbished Earl Carroll Theatre located on the south-east corner of 7th Ave and 50th Street, New York City, opened as the French Casino. This glittering supper club was described by Fortune magazine as ‘a vast scarlet and silver restaurant which, in terraced rows of tables, seats fifteen hundred […]

Grand Casino of the Villa des Fleurs at Aix-Le-Bains. The Villa des Fleurs was a stunning entertainment complex set in beautiful gardens that made it one of the most fashionable places in Europe during the 1920s.

The Parisian Institution of Maxim’s Restaurant One of the most important additions to the Parisian landscape in the late Nineteenth Century was the legendary Maxim’s restaurant. It has continued to shine as a beacon of excellence for over a century and has become a symbol of Parisian elegance and chic.

Murray’s River Club: A Rendezvous of Ragtime and Romance The American Jack May was instrumental in developing the nightclub scene in London shortly before the First World War and famously opened the legendary Murray’s Club in Beak Street in 1913. At about the same time, or shortly afterward. he opened a summer resort at Maidenhead […]

The Magnificent Murray’s Roman Gardens, New York The eight-storey edifice that was Murray’s Roman Gardens in New York created by John L. Murray, could be described as the first themed restaurant and certainly it became one of the city’s most famous eateries.

Floral Frascati Restaurant, London Frascati restaurant at 32 Oxford Street, London was celebrated for its cosmopolitanism, luxury and excellent cuisine and was a sumptuous and elegant venue that was highly regarded for its international cuisine.

The Classy Ciro’s Restaurant Chain Among European high society Ciro’s became an institution and perhaps the first classy restaurant chain in Europe with main branches in Monte Carlo, Paris, London and Biarritz. Each venue was regarded as far more than a restaurant but the very centre of fashionable life.

Prunier Restaurant, Paris The premier seafood restaurant in Paris was the wonderfully fashionable Prunier’s at 9 Rue Duphot near the Madeleine. It was proud of the fact that every conceivable dish possible that has shellfish as a basis could be served to its eager clientele.